Improved amalgamator



s. GARDiNER, 1r.

Amalgamator.

No. 13,645. Patented Oct. 9, 1855.

= I V I H PETERS. PhnkrLllnugrapher. Wzshmgwn. n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Genes.

SAMUEL GARDINER, JR, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED AMALGAMATOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent'No. 13,6415, dated Octoberll, 1855 To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL GARDINER, Jr., of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machinery forSeparating Gold and other Metals from Foreign Matter by Amalgamation;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in whieh- Figure 1 is atransverse vertical section of a machine embracing my improvements. Fig.2 is a plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

This invention consists in the employment of amalgamating-rollers ofnovel construction, and in a certain arrangement of such rollers to keepthem supplied with the auriferous or other metalliferous matter.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its practical application.

A A are a pair of cylindrical rollers of equal size arrangedhorizontally side by side, parallel with each other, and nearly closetogether, being supported in bearings in the framing B B of the machine,and dipping and rotating in separate troughs, O O,which are placed closetogether and contain quicksilver. These rollers are made hollow ofcast-iron covered with a tight shell of copper plated externally withsilver, to enable them to take up a coating of quieksiher as theyrotate. They are closed at one end, and at the other end they receivewater to their interior from a suitable head through hollow journals (Zd, and are perforated with small holes b b, at not too great intervals,all over their peripheries for the water to issue therefrom in smalljets. They are geared together to rotate at the same speed in oppositedirections, so that their upper parts approach each other, as shown bythe arrows in Fig. 1.

Above the rollers A A and parallel therewith is another pair of rollers,E E, of smaller size, arranged in suitable bearings and in a similarmanner to A A relatively to each other, but rotating both in a singletrough, F, containing quicksilver. These rollers are so arranged that avertical plane passing between them will also pass between the rollers AA,

distance between the centers of the rollers A- A, so that any overflowat itssides will fall on the descending portion of the rollers AA. Theserollers may be solid, the bodies like those of A A being of cast-ironturned truly to receive a tight shell of copper plated on the outsidewith silver, to which by reason of its great affinity therefor thequicksilver will adhere readily as the rollers rotate through it.

At the outer sides of the troughs (l O are shelves D D, having one ormore ritl'les, a a, on each.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The quartz or other mineralmatter containing the gold having been previously pulverized, if notalready in such a state, is fed with a stream of water through asuitable spout or conductor bet-ween the rollers E E, which, byrevolving in the trough, are kept constantly coated with quicksilver,which, being spread over a large surface, has the best possibleopportunity of collecting the gold from the material which passes overit in a thin sheet. The greater part of the amalgamating process is,however, performed on the surfaces of the rollers A A, and though someof the larger particles of gold are caught in the trough F these rollersE E and trough F are more par ticularly intended to serve the purpose ofdistributing the matter, so that it shall be carried by the overflow ofwater over the sides of the trough F, to be presented in a thin anduniform stream or sheet over the whole length of the surface of theamalgamating-rollers A A. By being thus distributed in a thin sheet overthe broad expanse of surface of the rollers almost every particle of thematter will. be at once brought in contact with the quicksilver; or, ifnot at once, it will be as the rollers move onward, for the reason thatthe matter all falls on the descending parts of the rollers which areapproaching each other, and is being there by compelled to pass betweenthe rollers,which being so close together, compel every particle to bebrought in contact with their quicksilver-coated surfaces, and thusalmost every atom of gold must be amalgamated. The rollers in revolvingthrough the quicksilver will be washed in quicksilver, and the goldbeing heavier than the quicksilver will be continuously washed off therollers and will sink to the bottom of the troughs, and the rollers willbe continually coated with clean quicksilver. The foreign mineral matterwill be Washed away by the water overflowing from the troughs C C overthe shelves D 1), part of the said water being supplied with theauriferous matter and part by the jets issuing through the holes I) b inthe cylinders. The jets from the cylinders are to keep the cylin- (lersclean and keep the matter from packing between the rollers, and keep itin a lively state or in constant motion at all parts of the surface ofthe rollers.

The reason why the two troughs G G are employed instead of a singletrough, like that under the distributing-rollers E E, is that a lessquantity of quicksilver is required, and

that in a single trough the foreign matter is very liable to pack andform a bank of nearly the same form as the figure formed by the union ofthose two troughs, and the amalgamation would be thereby obstructed;but, by carrying up the inner sides of the two troughs E E till theymeet in a sharp edge the packing is prevented and the matter caused tobe washed down into the troughs. The riflles a a will catch any goldescaping from the troughs; but they are more particularly intended tocatch any globules of quicksilver that may be washed oftthe rollers byjets issuing toward the shelves.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The hollow perforated rollers A A, receiving water at their journalsand discharging it in small streams all over their peripheries, andrevolving in opposite directions in a trough or troughs of quicksilver,so that their upper parts are constantly approaching each other, andhaving the auriferous or other metalliferous matter fed above or betweenthem, all substantially as herein described.

2. The arrangement of the amalgamatingrollers and thedistributing-rollers and trough, substantially as herein shown anddescribed, whereby the matter is fed equally on bothamalgamating-rollers and on the descending portions thereof.

- SAMUEL GARDINER, J R.

\Vitnesses:

J os. GEO. Mason, WM. Tosca.

